Another snake oil fix for the lazy pool owner

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a few varieties of dichlor, trichlor, algaecide, pH down, pH up (sodium carbonate), sodium bromide, metal sequestrant...

It's pretty much like a pool store linked directly to your phone. Poor testing, poor canned advice... You thought going to the pool store was frustrating, now the pool store has come to you! You've let it in your house!
 
Let me first say that i have no dog in this race, i don't offer a service of this sort, and purely see it as competition to all the "pool guys" out there that are charging whatever % more than what this service is per month (about $42.00/mo).
I'm assuming that all of you guys that are bagging on this are purely speculating as to the worth of this service since none of you have posted that you have actually tried this service, and have found it to be as bad as you are all implying...
Not very giving of the benefit of the doubt guys... Maybe we should wait for some feedback before passing judgement to see if this is as bad, and/or comical, as it is presenting itself?

I don't know about ya'll, but i would rather have daily monitoring as opposed to a single weekly test done by the pool guy. How about you? (This is directed to those of you who use a weekly service) I understand that you DIY'ers may get chuckle from this being all Troublefreepool trained and all. I would bet, that this service may have some worth to those of you that use a weekly service, and have become frustrated with it. Not that you couldn't take care of it yourself, but your schedule just wont allow it right now.


borjis said:
LOL the red check boxes for:
Buying and using test kits
Manual testing weekly
Driving to pickup chemicals

Like that's such an inconvenience.
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...you'd be surprised in my area. I find that alot of customers would rather use the test strips knowing that they weren't as accurate as the drop test solely because they are easier, or rather quicker to use.

I also read alot of posts here about how people can't get any factory warranty because they live in rural areas. I wonder if the same goes for going and fetching chems when needed? Seems like that service alone may be worth something, especially if it is included in the charge.

I don't know...

Like i said, weekly pool service is not my department. But i do hear quite a bit of feedback with regard to this subject, most of it being frustration from the customer.

Just having this new service out there, for better, or worse, may be enough to sir a bit more customer service into the pool guy, and perhaps save some of his clients.
 
I can totally see pool owners getting into this. With things like Amazon Dash, Harry's Shave and other subscription/concierge based services taking off, they'll get a customer base for sure.

Heck, I have several neighbor's with pools that would likely jump on something like this. They all think I'm an idiot for working on my pool the way I do. One neighbor actually "felt bad for me" and sent over his pool guy (without asking me first) to try to sell me on his service. The guy was like, "I was told you needed help with your pool, I'm really affordable and I can give you a discount for the first few months, etc., etc..." I was polite about it with the guy and declined. My neighbor was all annoyed at me but that's because I figured he lost out on some kind of "refer a friend" price reduction.

So yeah, there is definitely a market for something like this.
 

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Agreed, some will no doubt go for this....good for them i say.

For some a pool is an inconvenience for taking care of it...easier the better for them.

This product is not for me, taking care of my pool is like brushing my teeth in the morning or taking care of my yard and home.
It's just something I do and don't question it or try to make maintenance any more convenient than it already is.

I get everything at the grocery store, food for the pool and then my groceries.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
I can totally see pool owners getting into this. With things like Amazon Dash, Harry's Shave and other subscription/concierge based services taking off, they'll get a customer base for sure.

Heck, I have several neighbor's with pools that would likely jump on something like this. They all think I'm an idiot for working on my pool the way I do. One neighbor actually "felt bad for me" and sent over his pool guy (without asking me first) to try to sell me on his service. The guy was like, "I was told you needed help with your pool, I'm really affordable and I can give you a discount for the first few months, etc., etc..." I was polite about it with the guy and declined. My neighbor was all annoyed at me but that's because I figured he lost out on some kind of "refer a friend" price reduction.

So yeah, there is definitely a market for something like this.
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First - Harry's blades are LOUSY. Been there, done that. Do you (insert generic person - not you personally) brush your teeth everyday? If you do, checking pool chemistry takes no longer. If it does, you're doing something wrong. Once you get your pool balanced (and I'm in FL) I spend MAYBE 30 mins/week on my pool, that includes brushing, adding chlorine every couple days (don't have SWG) and acid 1-2 times a week. When you let it get away from you, yes, you will have problems and it will consume a few hours for a week or 2 to bring it back to balance. The key is to test Cl and pH EVERYDAY. IMHO.
 
Oooohhh!! Wouldn't it be hilarious for a TFP pool owner to get one of these and then see how far off it all goes?? We all take care of our pools pretty well but it would be interesting to see just how far off their recommendations are and document how the chemical levels in the pool would change by adding all of their stuff. It wouldn't be added of course, just catalogued and compared with the basic chemicals we normally use to solve problems.
 
I'm a new pool owner, and so glad I found TFP near the very beginning of our pool build. TFPC works, and it's easy! PoolMath works! Why fix it if it ain't broke?

My extended family taught me for years "don't even think about getting a pool; they're nothing but Trouble." Well my wife and I now have a Trouble Free Pool. :p
 
Interesting pricing $499 flat rate per year for pool you would think they would have a tiered price starting at 10,000 gallons and increasing every 5,000 gallons or so. $399 for hot tub, and $798 for both. Not fair for those with small pool huge win for those with large pools. I am guessing the company is targeting a higher end consumer and they decided simplicity would be more important to them than price per gallon treated.

Sooner or later we will get someone with one on here, can't wait to hear how well it works or not.

Even if it works perfectly for the price I am not giving up my stenners.
 
atttech-2 said:
Interesting pricing $499 flat rate per year for pool you would think they would have a tiered price starting at 10,000 gallons and increasing every 5,000 gallons or so. $399 for hot tub, and $798 for both. Not fair for those with small pool huge win for those with large pools. I am guessing the company is targeting a higher end consumer and they decided simplicity would be more important to them than price per gallon treated.

Sooner or later we will get someone with one on here, can't wait to hear how well it works or not.

Even if it works perfectly for the price I am not giving up my stenners.
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I read the fine print - that's the BASE price for NORMAL chemical consumption. Someone please tell me what is NORMAL chemical consumption. There will be additional charges if your go beyond their BASE parameters for their "packets". Everything is an up-charge. I can see this easily going to way north of $1K/year or even double that for those 30K pools in FL, AZ, TX, CA, etc.
 
I have owned some electronic devices that measure ORP, Ph, etc. and it had to be calibrated every 30 days. I paid $250 for it and sold it on Ebay for $20.00 a few years ago. I am in the tech industry but when it comes to my pool, I will take my TFP100 any day over any electronic device.
 
I have considered starting a pool service in my area using TFP techniques. As easy as it is to maintain one after a pool has been properly set up, it should be a money maker. Charge a base price based upon the size of the pool, dose with CYA, borates and get it in balance. After that, other than hurricanes and weekend long pool parties, it shouldn't be too hard.
 

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